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Nibali and his teammates travelled by bus to their hotel close to Val Martello after stage 19 of the race was cancelled due to bad weather two hours before the scheduled start.

Despite the roads being dry, the Giro d'Italia race leader and his Astana teammates opted to ride on the rollers in the hotel garage. With music blasting from an Ipod, the roller session was more like a spinning class than a stage of the Giro d'Italia.

Before jumping on his bike, Nibali spoke briefly in a video prepared by the Astana press officer Chris Baldwin.

"I think the organisers made an important decision," he said.

"They'd already changed the stage but because of the weather conditions and the snow, we can't do the stage. The conditions are really extreme and so I think they've made the right decision."

Nibali raced with Di Luca at Liquigas but was critical of his fellow Italian after it was announced that he had tested positive for EPO.

"The news about Danilo Di Luca is very bad news because it's always us, the riders, who pay the price for things like this," he said.

"This kind of thing is never good news for the world of cycling and is something we never like to hear. We'll see what happens. I think there are representatives bodies like the Italian Association of Professional rider, who I think will take action for this kind of thing."

The Associazione Corridori Ciclisti Professionisti Italiani (ACCPI) has issued a statement saying it will take legal action against Di Luca on behalf of the riders.

The statement said: "Cycling is giving its all to rebuild its credibility and support with the public. The peloton doesn't accept that the crazy behavior of one person can damage the image of the entire movement."